If you have given 10 puffs of their reliever inhaler and they are still no better your child will need emergency help. Call 999. Any of these symptoms are an emergency: Distressed. Gasping for breath. Neck and tummy sucking in when breathing. Unable to eat or drink. Finding it hard to speak. Looking pale or […]
The most important thing to do for a worsening asthma is to give the blue reliever inhaler 4 puffs every 4 hours using a spacer. By acting quickly at home, you might stop the asthma attack or symptoms from getting very bad. You might even stop a hospital admission. If there is anything that you […]
Inhaled medicines are used to help treat symptoms of asthma. Inhalers come in all different styles, shapes and sizes. They may be aerosol inhalers or single dose capsules loaded into an inhaler device. See A practical guide to inhalers for more information. Some people when using inhalers may be advised to use a spacer device. This […]
It can be difficult for children to co-ordinate breathing and pressing their metered dose inhaler. The spacer holds the dose of medicine so your child can take several normal breaths in and out to get all the medicine in to the lungs. This normal breathing method using the spacer is just as effective without the need to […]
Your doctor or nurse may prescribe an inhaler called Salbutamol. Salbutamol belongs to a group of medications called ‘bronchodilators’, these are usually blue in colour and often referred to as ‘reliever’ inhalers. This inhaler contains a medicine to relax or open the airways and relieve the wheezy symptoms. Important It is important this medicine is […]
The orange aerochamber (infant) for babies under 1 year old. The yellow aerochamber (child) is suitable for most children from 1 to 10 years. The blue aerochamber is the adult spacer suitable for over 10 years. The blue aerochamber also comes with a mouthpiece and no mask. It is easier to use an aerochamber than […]
Here are some of the percentages showing how much (or how little) of the inhaled medicine you get using different devices You will see that with both spacers you get up to 6o or 85% of the medicine into your child’s lungs. that means that you lose approx 15 – 40% of the medicine from […]
A spacer is a chamber where the medicine is held. Only use one dose of medicine at a time. The inhaler is fitted to it and the number of “puffs” go in to the spacer so it can be taken during several breaths rather than in one big breath. You may need to repeat the […]
The most effective way to get inhaled medicine into a child’s lungs is to use a Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) or “puffer” with a spacer. This gets about 80% of the inhaled medicine into the child’s lungs. For very young children get them used to handling the inhaler and spacer. Make sure the child is calm […]
Here are some examples of spacer devices. They are used together with your metered dose inhaler and are useful if you have difficulty coordinating your breath in (as you press the inhaler) and after as you hold your breath. A spacer holds the drug in the chamber which gives you time to breathe in and […]
